[en] Most commonly employed metals are polycrystalline and, as such, are neither homogeneous nor isotropic at the sub-macroscopic level. In an earlier paper, Hartz and Chopra presented a technique for investigation of multiple fracture of such a material. This work is now expanded in an attempt to analytically treat different secondary crack or imperfection configurations and interpret these configurations in terms of actually occurring metallurgical phenomena. The latter include grain boundaries, dislocations (loops, lines, and networks) and large porosity. Further refinement of this technique is expected to provide a method for analyzing secondary cracks represented by sub-microscopic inhomogeneities such as the voids formed in stainless steel during fast neutron irradiation. (Auth.)